How do software companies transform payments from a bolt-on feature to a thriving profit center? In today's episode of The Payments Strategy Show, Ali Mast of Parachute Advisory shares her experience from a career at the intersection of SaaS and payments, and what she learned from embedding payments in 40+ software platforms.

• Why SaaS and payments companies often "speak different languages" and how to bridge the gap.
• How evolving banking and regulatory conditions have made it harder for SaaS companies to become payfacs and the growing role of modern payfac-as-a-service providers.
• Revenue-maximizing best practices for sales enablement, customer success, and more.
• What mid-market SaaS companies need to consider before taking on payments risk.
• Why SaaS leaders need to own their payments strategy—or risk losing revenue to third parties.

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Tony Caudill shares insights from building a church membership engagement app and an all-in-one financial management platform for youth sports clubs, emphasizing how to choose the right payments provider, create a winning merchant experience, and drive adoption.

• How integrated payments helped Tony's first SaaS business get acquired
• Four different approaches to payments and which one drives the most value for vertical SaaS companies and their customers
• Why simply adding payments to a SaaS platform isn't enough -- and the essential strategy shift that actually drives revenue
• The hidden costs of picking the wrong payments provider and how to avoid an expensive, years-long mistake
• What's missing from the "if you build it, they will come" approach and how to get customers excited about payments

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Why are some SaaS companies able to generate more than half of their revenue from payments, while others struggle to get customers to use the payments feature? Matt Brown of Matrix Partners shares his lessons learned from building fintech into the vertical SaaS platform at Bonsai and working closely with top SaaS and fintech leaders as a VC investor. He covers:

• Why payments should be the first embedded fintech product for almost every vSaaS (hint: customers love to get paid).
• How SaaS platforms can become the system of record by managing workflows, data, and financial transactions all in one place.
• Where platforms can find additional growth beyond the typical scope of vSaaS and embedded fintech
• How nuanced details in pricing and risk management can make or break an embedded fintech offering
• The critical importance of prioritizing customers and vertical-specific needs over one-size-fits-all playbooks

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

One of the biggest mistakes for vertical SaaS companies when it comes to payments is taking on too much. 

Too much risk and compliance responsibility, too much technical complexity, or too many features that add more confusion than value. 

In this episode, Becky Kopplin interviews Joshua Silver about exactly what SaaS companies must prioritize in a high-value embedded payments offering... and which shiny objects just cause problems.

They covered:

• Why adoption is the ultimate payments KPI (focus on this if you want to drive massive revenue with embedded payments).
• A counterintuitive merchant onboarding flow to avoid unexpected funding holds, additional verification requests, and service interruptions.
• How a cluttered checkout experience with too many choices can lead to decision paralysis and abandoned carts. 
• The trendy pricing strategy that hurts adoption and margin, and why a simple pricing model wins every single time.
• What software companies can learn from Uber to make embedded payments an obvious “yes”.

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

With so many SaaS companies embracing payments, why do only 10-15% achieve the expected financial results? Brian Abernethy of Utopaya joins host Joshua Silver on this episode to examine what separates the winners from the rest of the pack. 

They explore:

• One huge mistake SaaS companies make when choosing a payments provider, and how to avoid it
• Specific contract terms to demand, and terms to reject, when negotiating with your payments provider
• The essential tension between take rate and adoption, and when to prioritize each
• How to boost attach rates by positioning on-platform payments as the default choice
• Why the most successful SaaS companies don't bury payments under finance or product, and how to structure the org for success

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

As customers, why do we enjoy interacting with some software and dread others? And how can SaaS companies create that feeling of joy in an embedded payments product?

Payments UX expert Joseph Solomon of WDIR joins us on the Payments Strategy Show to answer these questions and more. We covered:

• One critical UX touchpoint with a disproportionate impact on payments adoption (SaaS companies don’t want to miss this)
• How to boost merchant onboarding completion rates with progress indicators and other UX best practices
• The critical importance of trust in payments, and how to build it through UX design
• How to innovate on a payments product that demands reliability and stability
• Small words that make a big difference in confirmation pages, status emails, and other payments touchpoints

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

With payments technology getting more and more complicated -- and fraud evolving at a similar rate -- how can SaaS companies build a winning payments strategy in a rapidly changing payments industry?

Nikita Skitev of Payments Strategist joins host Joshua Silver to discuss this question and much more. They covered:

• The best way to learn about payments and fintech quickly when you’re just starting out
• Hidden costs of an all-in-one “walled garden” solution, and when to choose open ecosystem providers instead
• 6 key components to payments strategy, and why platforms must proactively manage their own fintech roadmap
• Two common types of fraud, and how SaaS platforms can grow volume without taking on excessive risk
• How to holistically evaluate a payment solution from both the payer and payee perspective – and why software companies need to consider both

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

The biggest opportunity for SaaS companies to reduce embedded payments cost usually isn’t negotiating a lower fee with the payment provider. 

It’s optimizing interchange. 

In this episode, payments supply chain expert Max Jewell explains how interchange fees are determined, where SaaS companies might be able to qualify for better rates, and what to look for in your processing statements to uncover potential savings.

Max shares:

• The most frequent causes of transaction downgrades and how to avoid them
• Common mistakes that prevent platforms from getting Level 2/3 data rates
• Little-known interchange optimization methods that almost no one is talking about
• 3 steps to size up your potential interchange optimization savings
• An easy way to spot hidden payment processor fees

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Vertical SaaS is bifurcating into two distinct approaches – and one approach will dominate.

Joshua Silver (Founder & CEO of Rainforest) is joined by Ari Myers, Head of Commercial Strategy at Kanmon, to talk about the synergy between embedded payments and embedded lending, why the next generation of SaaS platforms will need to be fintech-first to stay competitive, and how to avoid the most common fintech fails.

They covered:

• Two types of SaaS companies that are emerging, and how to be on the winning side.
• The non-negotiable prerequisite for embedded fintech success (hint: it’s not the product)
• How to activate your GTM org with sales incentives, quota retirement, new demo patterns, and more
• The "trifecta" of execution: executive sponsorship, cross-functional ownership, and departmental accountability
• Why aligned incentives between fintech providers and platforms create a win-win-win for SaaS companies, partners, and their end users

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Merchant migrations can be a significant barrier for SaaS companies changing payment providers -- especially if there's concern about merchant pushback or churn.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get advice from someone who has led dozens of successful migrations impacting many thousands of merchants?

This person is Becky Kopplin (VP of Payments at Rainforest). In this episode of the Payments Strategy Show, she sits down with host Joshua Silver to share her battle-tested merchant migration playbook. 

They covered:

• How Ministry Brands evaluated acquisition targets based on payments, and what drove up (or tanked) valuation
• The hidden cultural gap between “integrated” and “embedded” payments that stalls adoption
• How to reduce migration risk and improve outcomes with merchant segmentation and a test-measure-learn approach
• Why lowering your processing rate won’t win over merchants… but better product value will
• Real-world strategies for reducing support volume, increasing attach rate, and making payments a strategic differentiator

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

How do you build and launch an embedded payments product that delights your customers, boosts retention, and grows your core business? The answer might surprise you.

Product and strategy consultant Matthew Goldman of Totavi joins host Becky Kopplin to share product strategy for software companies adding or optimizing embedded fintech.

They explore:

• 3 essential questions SaaS leaders need to ask before getting started with payments
• Why department stores have store-brand credit cards – and how software companies should think beyond revenue to build winning products
• How to sell embedded payments to small and large businesses, without competing on price
• The biggest risk in embedded payments implementation (hint: it’s not technical)
• Specific product details that delight your customers and create more value with embedded payments

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Fraudsters are evolving fast. How can software platforms and payments providers stay ahead?

On the latest episode of The Payments Strategy Show, Dwayne Gefferie and Joshua Silver discussed the answers to this question and many more.

Dwayne is known for his contrarian perspectives and deep expertise in payments data and risk management, so this episode goes into the weeds on auth rates, risk management, payments orchestration, and the state of the industry. 

Dwayne and Joshua covered:

• The most important payments metric for software platforms to optimize at each stage of growth
• How scammers are evolving, and what platforms and payments providers need to do to stay ahead 
• Legacy mindset challenges that the payments industry needs to overcome in order to fight fraud
• The optimal approach to payments orchestration and at what stage platforms should start experimenting
• Honest assessment of Stripe, Adyen, and Fiserv – both strengths and competitive challenges

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

In this episode, Basis Theory Co-Founder and CEO Colin Luce joins Rainforest Founder and CEO Joshua Silver for a deep dive on payments orchestration, tokenization, and vaulting.

They discussed:

• The number one reason to invest in payment orchestration (hint: it's not least-cost routing)
• How software companies can protect their merchant onboarding data and get more control over their payment processing
• The sneaky retention tactic some legacy payment providers still use -- and how data vaulting can help software platforms break free
• Why the promise of "use network tokens and save 10 bps" has yet to be realized
• Exactly what is Payments 3.0, and the capability it is unlocking for software platform

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Payments pundits tend to say things like “every software company will be a payments company”... but how should software companies really evaluate the payments opportunity?

Andrew Mosawi has helped hundreds of software companies set up and scale their payments businesses, and on this episode he joins host Joshua Silver to share his key insights.

They covered:

• When to bring in a dedicated payments leader (hint: it’s not a certain ARR or processing volume)
• Specific questions to help you decide if payments should be a priority right now
• Why payment provider selection should NOT be the first milestone, and what SaaS leaders need to do before that
• 3 ways to create value in your software business with payments (and none of them involve being the lowest cost option)
• The next big embedded fintech opportunity for vertical software companies, and how to prepare for it

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

How can a vertical SaaS company become THE operating system for their industry?

Fintech board member, investor, and advisor Bob Butler joins Rainforest VP of Payments Becky Kopplin to discuss how vertical software companies become the system of record with robust vertical workflows and embedded fintech.

They covered:

• One thing Bob would do differently if he was building a payments company all over again
• Contract terms to align incentives with your payment provider
• The critical metric that matters more than margin – and how to optimize for it
• Critical org structure and culture mistakes that hinder payments growth
• How a great embedded payments experience defeats low cost competitors (and a simple test to evaluate if you got it right)

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

One of the biggest challenges for software companies launching embedded payments is adoption. How do you get customers to use embedded payments?

Roofing CRM platform ProLine didn't have this problem.

Customers asked for payments. And, when ProLine launched their embedded payments, customers eagerly moved their payments volume to the platform.

On this episode, ProLine Co-Founder and CEO AJ Briley joined host Joshua Silver to share how ProLine worked closely with customers to build the right product and get adoption so quickly:

• Why iteration is essential to building a great product
• How customer feedback helped Proline build a winning product
• Choosing the right payment provider, and when it makes sense to engage a consultant
• Specific features in the core product that drove Proline’s success with payments
• How embedded payments can increase company valuation

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Basis Theory Co-Founder and CEO Colin Luce joins Rainforest Founder and CEO Joshua Silver to discuss the future of agentic commerce.

They covered:

• Shopping in an AI-enabled ecosystem vs true agentic commerce
• How certain categories of shopping are likely to adopt AI
• Will agentic commerce drive more shopping (and payments volume) or make shopping more efficient?
• Data and infrastructure needed to power agentic commerce
• Risk management implications of empowering AI agents to make buying decisions

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

What does it take to grow a SaaS company from pre-revenue to market leader or scale to a successful exit?

Kevin Lee has been a software and payments leader for more than 25 years and his track record includes multiple successful exits. He joins host Joshua Silver to discuss the the rise of embedded fintech, how the strongest SaaS companies are approaching embedded payments, and why the most promising SaaS companies are selling all-in-one solutions.

They covered:

• How payments combined with business intelligence makes the core SaaS product sticker (and a real-world example)
• The hidden cause of low adoption and how to prevent it
• Why Stripe is no longer the default choice for embedded payments
• How to choose a payment provider that won’t steal your merchants (this is more common than you think)
• Overcoming common objections when selling embedded payments to existing customers

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

Will AI erode vertical SaaS? How can vertical software companies win market share when enterprise customers can use AI to build their own systems?

Vertical software founder, CEO, and investor Luke Sophinos joined Rainforest VP of Revenue Aaron Steinberg to discuss the future of vertical SaaS. 

They covered:

• Why focusing on just one or two core values can help software companies build a strong team
• Luke’s proven playbook for success in vertical SaaS, and how AI is changing it
• The biggest mistake startups make when building AI products and what to do instead 
• One prerequisite vertical software platforms must have before adding payments
• How vertical SaaS companies can win their market by becoming the system of record

Mentioned on this episode:

Luke Sophinos: https://lukesophinos.com/

Luke’s newsletter: https://www.newsletter.lukesophinos.com/ 

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA

https://www.vertexconference.com/ 

Vertical Software Summit

October 16th and 17th in Miami, FL

https://www.verticalsaasgroup.com/vertical-software-summit 

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

The Automated Clearing House (ACH) network moved $86 trillion in the U.S. in 2024 – more than 7x the four major card networks combined.

Yet the big embedded payment providers treat ACH as an afterthought. 

On this episode, Rainforest Founder and CEO Joshua Silver joins guest host Brooke Smith to discuss how software companies can drive more payments volume and revenue with ACH.

They covered:

• Why ACH is still the backbone of U.S. money movement, and will continue to be for a while
• Deep dive into the mechanics, timelines, and risk profile of ACH vs credit cards
• Modern tools that can reduce the risk of ACH for merchants, software platforms, and payment providers
• How to monetize embedded ACH payments by selling the value of the whole solution
• 3 ways to encourage end customers to pay online instead of mailing a check, so you can increase embedded payments utilization (and volume!)

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

When vertical software companies transition from referral-based payment providers to an embedded solution, one of the critical challenges is bringing payments support in-house.

Vertical SaaS veterans Emi Keshler and Kyle Scott joined us this week to share their experiences supporting day-to-day operations for embedded payments at vertical software companies, and how to transform payments support from cost center to revenue driver.

We discussed:

• How support and payment operations directly contribute to payments adoption and revenue
• Product gaps that create the vast majority of payments-related support tickets – and how to find and fix them
• Why an internal payments advocate is essential for a profitable payments product 
• How to move from reactive support to proactive support, and become your merchants’ trusted partner
• The hidden decision that can drive 2x revenue when vertical SaaS companies get it right

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

The chargeback exists to protect consumers. And it assumes that all consumers are good actors. But what happens when they’re not?

First party fraud is increasing by 30% every year.

It’s hard to detect, accounts for more than 75% of chargebacks, and costs US businesses more than $100B per year.

Shanthi Shanmugam, CEO of dispute automation platform Casap, joined guest-host Brooke Smith to discuss how payment providers, ISVs, and merchants can fight first-party fraud.

They covered:

• Why first-party fraud isn’t detected by traditional fraud tooling
• The tradeoff between friction and fraud, and how ISVs can strategically insert friction to reduce first-party fraud 
• How modern technology like first-party fraud scores can identify high-risk consumers
• Why some customers file chargebacks when they’re confused – and a simple strategy to identify (and fix) the most likely causes
• Specific strategies to reduce chargebacks on subscription payments

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay

The most frequently asked questions about surcharging tend to focus on surcharging compliance.

Compliance is important. But the first question should be “is surcharging even the right solution?” 

In this episode, Rainforest VP of Payments Becky Kopplin joins host Joshua Silver to share their insights on both questions. They discussed when to consider surcharging, which problems surcharging does (and does not) solve, and – if you do decide to surcharge – how to be compliant.

This conversation covers:

• Surcharging, convenience fees, technology fees, and discounts – exactly which fee models are subject to surcharging rules and why
• How card networks enforce surcharging rules and the consequences of non-compliance
• 3 must-haves for compliant surcharging and how to approach each
• Hidden costs of surcharging and how to decide if it should be a priority for your platform
• One specific use case where surcharging can significantly accelerate card adoption

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference
September 9th, 2025 in San Francisco, CA
https://www.vertexconference.com/

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay